VXLAN

Question 1

What is Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN)?

Answer 1

A network virtualization technology designed to provide scalable, isolated networks in cloud computing environments.
Provides significantly more segmentation options than the 4096 VLAN IDs available in traditional VLAN.

Question 2

What are the comparisons to traditional VLANs?

Answer 2

Scalability
Cross Data Center Connectivity
Network Segmentation

Question 3

Taking each one of these, how do they benefit networks?

Answer 3

Scalability
VLANs are limited to 4096 unique IDs, whereas VXLAN supports up to 16 million VNIs, offering greater scalability.
Cross Data Center Connectivity
VXLAN can stretch Layer 2 networks across geographically dispersed data centers, unlike VLANs, which are typically confined to a single physical location.
Network Segmentation
Provides enhanced network segmentation capabilities, essential in multi-tenant or cloud environments where VLAN’s capabilities might be insufficient.

Question 4

What are some of the limitations overcome by VXLAN?

Answer 4

Address Space Limitation
Layer 2 Extension
Multi-Tenancy Support

Question 5

Taking each one of these, how do they help overcome some of the limitations of VLANs?

Answer 5

Address Space Limitation
Overcomes the 4096 VLAN ID limitation, addressing the needs of larger and more dynamic environments.
Layer 2 Extension
Enables Layer 2 network extension over Layer 3 infrastructure, facilitating more flexible and efficient network designs.
Multi-Tenancy Support
Better supports multi-tenancy environments, which is crucial for modern data centers and cloud services, where traditional VLANs may fall short.